The War at Troy

Feeling the immediate need for decision, yet flustered by this unforeseen development, Agamemnon was, in those tense moments, listening for the advice of a god. When no voice entered the silence of his mind, he decided that though a hundred ships meant a great deal to him, his honour and authority meant a great deal more.

He was about to declare as much when Nestor straightened from where he had leaned to hear Odysseus whisper in his ear. ‘Perhaps’ – the old man cleared his throat – ‘perhaps it might be wise for the council to deliberate upon this matter?’

Taken aback, Agamemnon observed Nestor’s insistent nod.

‘My own thought precisely,’ he said. ‘If the Cretan legate will excuse us …’

Bowing courteously to each of the counsellors, Dromeus backed out of the room, leaving a musky trace of perfume on the air.

As soon as the door had closed behind him, Ajax said, ‘What is this whispering about? The High King is our commander. He has all the fighting force he needs.’

‘Bear with me, friend,’ Odysseus smiled, and would have said more but Palamedes intervened. ‘This matter requires careful thought. Crete promises more than eight times the number of ships that Salamis could muster.’

‘But at what price?’ demanded Ajax. ‘Any fool knows that a divided leadership can only spell trouble in the end.’

‘I stand with Ajax,’ declared Diomedes. ‘It seems to me there’s nothing to discuss. Like most of us here, Idomeneus was sworn to our cause at Sparta. A man doesn’t make conditions when he swears before a god.’

Fortified to find his own instincts strengthened by such unqualified support, Agamemnon said, ‘There’s already too much scope for division in our forces. A hundred ships more or less will make no great difference to our strength. I’d rather do without them than lose control of the rest. If Idomeneus won’t bow to our authority then let him stay at home.’

‘Good,’ said Odysseus. ‘The only hard part being that’s not what he will do.’

‘What do you mean?’ Ajax frowned.

‘You heard what Dromeus said. His ships are ready to sail. If Idomeneus has scoured his island to mount such a considerable fleet, he’s not about to let it rot in port at Knossos.’ Odysseus turned his ironical smile on Agamemnon. ‘A hundred more warships may not count for much in your reckoning, King of Men, but I’ve no doubt that Priam will welcome them with open arms.’

Ajax uttered an outraged gasp of dismay. Menelaus began to shake his head. ‘Idomeneus was among the first to swear. I don’t believe he would betray us.’

Odysseus shrugged. ‘Is it unknown for Cretans to break their word?’

‘But the man’s my friend,’ Menelaus protested. Then he saw that every man in the room was thinking the same bleak thought: that the open-hearted, younger son of Atreus had not proved to be the wisest judge of friends.

‘Nevertheless,’ Nestor dispelled the fraught silence, ‘it seems that Deucalion’s son has ambitions for his kingdom. Evidently he hasn’t forgotten that there was a time when Crete ruled the seas and took tribute from many of our cities. With Troy’s help it’s possible that she might do so again.’

Diomedes said, ‘Then what would he have to gain from joining us?’

‘A large share of the spoils of Troy,’ Odysseus answered. ‘Unrestricted access to her trade routes through the Hellespont and around the Asian coast – gold, silver, grain, cinnabar, timber, amber, jade. All of this, along with recognition of his independent authority by every kingdom in Argos.’

‘My friend Menestheus won’t care for that,’ said Palamedes.

Odysseus made a dismissive gesture. ‘Then the Lord of Athens should have kept as tight a rein on his vassal as his predecessor did.’

Agamemnon grunted and sat back in his chair. ‘Crete was on the rise again even before Theseus leapt from the cliff on Skyros. Idomeneus merely has more ambition than his father.’

‘And more courage,’ Menelaus put in.

Diomedes frowned. ‘The more shame that his courage is not matched by his honour. I took him for a true man at Sparta, and a worthy contender for Helen.’

‘But the question remains,’ Odysseus insisted. ‘Do we want his ten thousand Cretan spearmen inside our tents pissing out or outside them pissing in?’

A hint of a smile briefly crossed the face of Achilles.

Agamemnon caught it from the corner of his eye, and decided that the time had come to confront this arrogant young blood directly. ‘The son of Peleus seems amused. What are his thoughts on this question, I wonder?’

‘That it is a matter of indifference to me,’ Achilles said.

Agamemnon frowned. ‘How so?’

‘With all due reverence to the gods, my trust is in my own strength and that of my friend.’ Achilles smiled at Patroclus. ‘Whether the Cretans are for us or against us, we will fight.’

‘So will we all,’ said Ajax. ‘But who will lead? My obedience is to Agamemnon.’

‘And mine,’ Diomedes concurred.

Nestor rubbed a hand through the silvery-white curls of hair at the back of his head. ‘Yet Idomeneus awaits an answer. I for one am wondering whether it may not be prudent to have his forces at our side.’ He turned his grave eyes to Odysseus, who nodded and said, ‘This war will have to be won at sea before it can be won on land. A hundred ships either way could make all the difference.’

Agamemnon stared at Palamedes, who said quietly, ‘I agree with that judgement,’ and glanced away across the table, where Menelaus fidgeted with the heavy gold signet ring that Helen had given him on their wedding day. He was frowning gloomily down at the rampant pair of leopards on its bezel when Palamedes asked, ‘What does the King of Sparta say?’

The younger son of Atreus glanced uncertainly at the elder before answering. ‘As I said before,’ he murmured hoarsely, ‘I consider Idomeneus to be my friend. I believe he will prove a valuable ally.’ He fingered the ring which slipped loosely around his knuckle. Then he said, ‘This thing is for my brother to decide.’

Again Agamemnon shifted in his chair, trying to gauge the feeling in the room. His face had reddened and his eyes were on the move, avoiding the silent faces round him, yet finding nowhere sure to settle. This was the first occasion since he had committed himself to this war when he knew he was faced with a decision on which the whole dangerous enterprise might turn. Yet which way to lean? Every muscle of his body insisted that he retain absolute control. Control over the forces he had gathered, control over this council, control over himself. And the two men in the room with whom he felt most at ease fully expected him to do so. But Ajax and Diomedes were men of action, not of thought. And the same was true of Achilles and Patroclus, young men both, driven by an invincible confidence in their own strength and prowess. Neither of them, he suspected, would hesitate for a moment. They would go down fighting sooner than yield an inch in pride. That was the warrior’s way, the way of men, and he was Agamemnon, King of Men. But there was more to waging war than blood and fear and mindless valour amid the clash of chariots, and if shrewd old Nestor and that cunning thinker out of Euboea agreed with Odysseus on this, then more might be at stake than pride.

Agamemnon sat with his hand across his mouth, regretting that he had exposed his own position too soon. Were he to change his mind now, he might appear weak before those who most respected him. Yet if they were wrong … A hundred more ships … ten thousand more men … on one side or the other. He saw his whole proud fleet in flames around him and a Cretan pentakonter bearing down on his flagship with a gryphon at its prow and the double axe painted on its sail. An error made now might prove costly indeed when his ships were at sea.

But he could not vacillate for long under the impatient gaze of Achilles.

He was summoning the will to speak when Odysseus leaned back with a mildly incredulous air and said, ‘Do I speak only for myself when I say that if there was disagreement between Idomeneus and Agamemnon, I would know where my own loyalty belonged?’

And before either of them had fully taken in the implications of the question, both Ajax and Diomedes, at whom his challenge was directed, had declared that he was certainly not speaking for himself alone.

Odysseus arched his brows at Agamemnon and opened his hands. ‘It seems that we’re in agreement then.’

Agamemnon narrowed his eyes and saw that a door had opened on his dilemma. ‘Very well. On that clear understanding, let the Cretans come.’

But the Lion of Mycenae was feeling the full weight of the burden of command, even in the very moment when he was about to relinquish half of it.

Nor was he to know that Odysseus had no particular reason to mistrust the intentions of Idomeneus. But as the Ithacan said to his cousin Sinon afterwards when telling him how the meeting had gone, ‘We need those Cretan ships and how else was I to persuade Agamemnon to give up half his command?’

As to whether or not divine assistance might be required, Agamemnon was more inclined to agree with Odysseus than Ajax, so he had set aside the day before the fleet was due to sail for prayer and acts of sacrifice to the gods.

All the principal commanders and their men assembled outside the town in a hollow where a thick-girthed plane tree, sacred to Hera, had stood for centuries. An altar had been raised in the shade of the tree beside a nearby spring. The priests invoked the almighty power of Sky-Father Zeus, and Calchas prayed for the wisdom and guidance of Apollo. Then Agamemnon offered the sacrifice.

He had just raised the knife from the kill when all the men standing in the hollow were amazed to see a huge snake slither out from under the altar. Agamemnon stepped back in shock, gazing down at the scarlet markings streaked along the mottled black scales of the creature’s back. With astonishing speed, the snake writhed its long body towards the trunk of the plane tree and began to climb.

Calchas moved quickly from where he had been standing a little behind Agamemnon to observe the behaviour of the snake. He watched it make its way along a high bough to where a sparrow had made its nest. Though the mother-bird rose, fluttering her wings in alarm, she was quite powerless against the muscular strike of the great snake. Eight times it dipped its jaws into the nest, snatching out a fledgling sparrow at each strike. Then it raised its head upright, swayed for a time, watching the flight of the panic-stricken mother-bird. A last swift strike caught the sparrow by the wing and swallowed it whole. A moment later the snake stretched itself out along the bough and lay there so stiff and rigid that men later swore that it had been turned to stone.

A murmur of wonder and alarm ran through the assembled men.

Agamemnon stood with the sacrificial knife still dripping in his hand, looking to Calchas who threw the flat of his right hand to his forehead, cried out, ‘We accept the oracle,’ and stood with his eyes closed.

Silence settled across the glade. Not a man moved. Only the plane tree stirred a little in the breeze off the sea. Then Calchas lowered his hand, opened his eyes and smiled at the hundreds of men gazing at him with rapt attention. ‘Argives,’ he cried, ‘the mighty intelligence of Zeus himself sends you this portent. We have waited long for it, and will have to wait long for its fulfilment, but the glory promised here will never die.’

Still dismayed by the shock, Agamemnon took encouragement from his words. ‘Tell us, Calchas,’ he said, ‘how do you read the omen?’

‘Does a serpent not renew its skin each year?’ said Calchas. ‘And are the leaves of the plane tree not reborn with every year that passes? Eight was the number of the fledglings in the nest. Their mother sparrow made the ninth, and the death of each bird speaks of the passing of a year. The sparrow is one of Aphrodite’s creatures and Aphrodite fights for Troy. So for nine years you must fight to take Troy, but in the tenth year her broad streets will be yours.’

The priest’s voice was exultant. He threw open his arms, gazed skywards, and then stood with his eyes closed as though in silent prayer. Around him the assembled men waited in silence, each locked in his own thoughts.

Agamemnon saw at once that more was needed. ‘It is the will of Zeus,’ he shouted. ‘The god has spoken. Victory will be ours.’ Then Menelaus and Ajax were quickly at his side taking up the shout, urging others on. Soon the hollow was loud with the cry of ‘Victory will be ours’. It rose from the throng again and again, but as he joined the shouting, Palamedes, the prince of Euboea, became uncomfortably aware that only a few yards away across the glade, Odysseus of Ithaca was studying him with a cold, ironical regard.

The next day, to the accompaniment of a peal of thunder which was generally interpreted as a sign of encouragement from Zeus, the fleet set sail for Troy.

Two generations have passed since that day and many men have told the stories of the war many times. But memories grow confused with the passing of the years, so not all of the stories are reliable, and some chroniclers, for reasons that serve their own doubtful ends, have been known to tell downright lies. My own authority is the word of Odysseus, which I have found to be trustworthy in almost all respects, and he was quick to dismiss as nonsense the story put about by some that the fleet got lost almost immediately and made landfall in Mysia, where they launched a major assault, thinking that they had reached the coast of Troy.

Those who believe this fable offer divine intervention in explanation of the error. They claim that Aphrodite confused the navigators in order to stave off the attack on the city. But as Odysseus pointed out, Agamemnon was well-furnished with charts, Menelaus himself had already made a voyage to Troy without difficulty, and some of the most experienced rovers of the Ionian, Cretan and Aegean seas were among the captains of the Argive fleet. Odysseus was not the only prince who supplemented his wealth by piracy, and among his many other pursuits, Palamedes took a particular interest in the problems of navigation. So the story is most charitably understood as a muddled memory of a war that lasted for many years and involved many different campaigns not all of which took place beneath the walls of Troy.

It is true that when Agamemnon first conceived of attacking Troy, he had hoped to emulate the swift, devastating raid by which Telamon and Heracles had once breached the weakest stretch of the city’s walls. But King Priam had strengthened his defences since then. He had also commissioned a new fleet of warships and had been engaged in serious, and successful, diplomatic activity to ready his many allies for the coming conflict around the western coast of Asia. The High King of Troy might have fewer ships at his command than the High King of Argos but he was not faced with the problem of transporting a hundred thousand men across the Aegean, and his fleet was quite large enough to guard the mouth of the Hellespont and offer support to his allies.

And his allies were many. As intelligence reports came into Mycenae from Agamemnon’s spies, they proved ever more daunting. Of all Troy’s friends, only the Dardanians had decided to stay out of the war. Having tried and failed to persuade Priam that Helen should be returned immediately to Sparta, King Anchises had declared that he would not embroil his people in a military conflict that had begun with Paris’ perfidy and might end with the ravaging of all the lands around the Idaean Mountains. But neither would he lend support to the invaders, and all the other coastal kingdoms, from Paeonia and the Thracian Chersonese in the north to the Lycians in the south had swiftly rallied to King Priam’s aid. The Phrygians, the Mysians, the Carians and the Pelasgians out of Larissa were raising armies, and Priam was also given promises of support from countries further east should the need arise. The Amazons, the Paphlagonians and even the distant Halizonians all stood ready to send forces to the defence of Troy.

In the face of such concerted opposition, Odysseus advised that a cautious war of attrition would be the wisest course of action. Troy might be more easily taken if they first wore down her allies through a campaign of naval blockades and raids on the weaker fronts. Until that ominous day at Aulis, no one except Odysseus had reckoned that the campaign might drag on for as long as ten years. But if such was the will of Zeus, he argued, then the princes of Argos must resign themselves to it, fortified by the knowledge that they would win in the end.

Agamemnon listened to this argument but his was not a patient temperament. He still nursed a hope that the sheer size of the force he had mustered would shock the Trojans into surrender and prove the reading of the omen wrong. When he expressed this view the council divided round him along the usual lines, with the thinkers among them – Nestor and Palamedes – supporting Odysseus. The rest argued for an immediate attack on Troy.

When he saw that he was outnumbered, Odysseus came up with an alternative plan. Very well, he suggested, rather than risk everything on a single throw while Troy was at her strongest, it would be wise to establish a secure bridgehead as close as possible to the city. The small island of Tenedos, rising from the sea off the Trojan coast, was perfect for their needs. From there they could either mount a direct assault on Priam’s capital if it seemed likely to succeed, or they could blockade the mouth of the Hellespont and launch raids against Thrace to the north and southwards against the coastal strongholds of his other allies.

Everyone saw the sense of this and the plan was agreed.

By the time the fleet arrived near Tenedos, Agamemnon had decided to position most of his ships where they could hold an advance of the Trojan warships while the island was taken by a smaller force. He called a council aboard his flagship and was about to announce his decision to put Diomedes in command of the invasion, when Achilles demanded the honour of leading this first strike himself.

The day was sultry and close. There had been a delay in starting the council while the others had waited impatiently for Achilles to appear. The mood was now fraught with nervous anticipation.

Agamemnon hesitated. He had no wish to enter into open conflict with this volatile young man, but neither was he willing to trust the success of his first, crucial assault to a warrior who had yet to fight a full-scale battle. Before he could pick his words, Achilles narrowed his eyes. ‘Calchas has warned you that this war can not be won without my help. If the gods are looking to me to seal the victory, they will favour me as I lead the first attack.’ He spoke as though the full force of oracular authority lay behind his declaration, leaving no room for debate or contradiction.

News of the omen about the seventh son of Peleus had spread quickly throughout the ranks, and Achilles already commanded the affection of the troops as well as their respect. His Myrmidons had always been prepared to lay down their lives for him, but so were many others now, and he was known among the common soldiers as the luck of the force. Well aware of it, Agamemnon had already bitten back his tongue on a number of occasions when the youth had spoken with arrogant presumption, but this time he was not prepared to yield.

‘We commend your ardour, son of Peleus, and are grateful for your offer,’ – he glanced down at the chart of Tenedos on the table before him – ‘but our trust is in the experience of Diomedes, the veteran of Thebes. When you have proved yourself in battle as thoroughly as he, we will be glad to give you a command.’

Agamemnon cleared his throat and was about to progress the attention of the council to a discussion of tactics for the assault when Achilles said, ‘The High King must think again.’

Agamemnon visibly swallowed his rage. ‘Did I not make myself clear?’

Achilles rose from his seat. ‘Quite clear enough. The insult you have just given me was quite as clear as the first I had to suffer at your hands.’

Agamemnon looked up in impatient bewilderment.

Anxiously old Nestor sought to intervene. ‘Calm yourself, Achilles,’ he said quietly. ‘I feel sure that no insult was intended.’

‘No,’ Agamemnon growled, holding up a clenched hand so that the gold shone on the lion-seal of his ring, ‘let’s have this thing out once and for all. I shall be most interested to hear how the son of Peleus thinks I have insulted him.’

Achilles brought his fist down on the table. ‘It’s been clear to me from the first that you recruited me to this campaign only as a mere afterthought. Had Calchas not made it plain that Troy would never fall without my aid, you would have been content to leave me on Skyros and keep all the glory for yourself. Is that not so?’

Irritably Agamemnon said, ‘If your fame had been greater we might have thought of you sooner.’

Achilles’ nostrils flared. He was deciding whether to release his pent-up fury or to turn on his heel and walk away for ever, when Odysseus spoke. ‘Achilles my friend, you’re wrong to believe that the High King slighted you. Had I been quicker to come from Ithaca, you would have been called sooner to the cause. Such things are ruled by the gods, but if there is a fault here, it is mine.’

‘And today?’ Achilles demanded, barely mollified by the generous apology. ‘Have I not seen my courage thrown back in my teeth?’

‘No one doubts your courage,’ Odysseus answered, ‘but you ask a great deal.’

Menelaus shifted uneasily in his chair, sweating a little in the heat. ‘My brother seeks only to secure the success of the landing.’ ‘Then am I to understand that the sons of Atreus question my prowess?’

Nestor smiled at him. ‘No more than I do, and that is not at all. But there will be many opportunities for you to demonstrate your skill at arms, young man.’

‘You are old, sir,’Achilles answered, ‘and I respect your wisdom. But were you not once as young as I am and as impatient for fame?’

‘It’s your impatience that worries me,’ Agamemnon scowled. ‘I will not court disaster merely to feed your ambitions.’

Again Achilles bristled. Again Odysseus was about to intervene, but it was Idomeneus who spoke first. It had been one thing for the King of Crete to gain formal acknowledgement as joint-commander of the enterprise, but it had been quite another to make his authority felt in a council that had assembled around Agamemnon and evidently owed him its allegiance. His position was weakened also by the fact that he had brought twenty less ships from Crete than the hundred he had promised. But having observed this dispute with cool detachment, the suave Cretan now saw his first clear opportunity to assert himself. ‘There is a way we might resolve this matter to everyone’s satisfaction while at the same time advancing our business here today’. Gratified to sense that he had secured the full attention of everyone present, he kept them waiting a few moments longer than necessary. ‘I agree with my royal cousin of Mycenae that Diomedes is the right man to lead this force. The conqueror of Thebes will surely make short work of Tenedos.’ Achilles stiffened but Idomeneus smiled and raised a restraining hand. ‘Be patient with me, friend.’ When Achilles settled in his chair again, Idomeneus looked round at the others. ‘Priam has, of course, anticipated our plans to seize the island, and has taken steps to fortify it. He knows that the only harbour large enough for the number of ships we will need is here.’ He pointed to the place on the chart. ‘One of my spies reliably reports that a number of large rocks have been placed on the cliffs above the harbour. In the event of attack, they will be rolled down, causing massive damage both to ships and men as they come ashore.’ Agamemnon was about to demand why he had not been told this before, but Idomeneus spoke over him. ‘This is my suggestion. Let Diomedes command the main assault on the harbour, but give Achilles command of a smaller force that will swim ashore under the cover of darkness, making for this cove here. From there he can storm the cliff positions from the rear. If he times his assault correctly, and conducts it with sufficient ardour, he will prevent the release of the rocks and allow the main force to come ashore unmolested.’ His black eyes smiled across at Achilles. ‘There is great honour to be won from such a perilous task. And this way the two commanders will act together – as Agamemnon and I act together, to mutual advantage and for the good of all.’